Wu Gallery presents the latest work by artist Alejandro Jaime. It is a poetic proposal about the end of the world, which seeks to make us aware of the geological era in which we have lived for 12,000 years and that is coming or has come to an end.

The Holocene is described by scientists as the geological era caused by the disappearance of glaciers in the northern hemisphere, providing a stable climate and the formation of an environment suitable for the survival of humanity. The whole history of our civilization is framed in this period. Human activity has brought about radical changes in the planet’s environment, which is why it is argued that we are already living in a new era called the Anthropocene term not yet officialized, pointed by Nobel Prize winner chemistry in 1995, Paul J. Crutzen (Holland, 1933) to try to define this new period which is probably initiated since the industrial revolution.

The sample includes a set of images related to the human being through animals and large-scale landscapes, born from the artist’s intimate thoughts about diverse territories in relation to their current context of global transformation, related at the same time to production and the value of the image as a representation.

From a personal perspective, the territory at the end of an era needed a set of images to be able to size their meanings. Appealing to a kind of aesthetic of transformation, taking elements and historical references, as connections to refer and evocative territories of memory, Jaime observes both in his memories and his present and in an attempt to locate himself in the history of Humanity, Holocene is presented as a poetic of our era, as we know it.

Alejandro Jaime 1978 / Lima, Perú. He has a degree in Fine Arts as painter from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. He also has been studied Photography, Landscape, Public Space and Ephemeral Architecture. He has developed an interdisciplinary artistic work directed to peripheral spaces that refer and evoke the limits of the territory and the different ways to do landscape . In 2016, he participated in the residency program for artists: Yatoo International Residence in Korea developing the project: “Entropías”. He has also been awarded scholarships in recent years to participate in artistic residencies in Argentina, Ecuador, Germany, USA, Mexico, and Canada where he exhibited his work. Among the countries where he has participated in collective exhibitions are: Germany, Korea, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, and others.

The nineteenth century was for Europe a period of great technological, political and social development. The wars of independence and the emergence of new nations set the scenery for the beginning of a neocolonial capitalist model that gave the northern countries a new kind of hegemony: economic. This period consolidated the preeminence of Europe in the scientific, cultural and academic fields and a new era of archaeological, historical and natural discoveries.

Expeditions like those of Alejandro v. Humboldt, J.J. von Tschudi, Aimé Bonpland or Paul Marcoy, among others, were set out to collect and portray the indescribable, unknown and mythical unexplored corners of the globe. Innumerable texts and illustrations depicted impressive travel experiences. Native customs and cultural material were documented and even physically moved to Europe to elaborate or increase knowledge in libraries, museums and in specialized studies.

Entitled “Viernes”, as the character in Daniel Defoe’s novel, “Robinson Crusoe”; the project aims to question the value of the documents and rationalizations made by travelers about the new cultures they came in contact with during their exploration travels in South American territory. Through the intervention of documents and objects, the artist tries to give visitors the opportunity to question the nature of those museum objects, from its utilitarian or ritual value, trying to escape the label imposed on them by western civilization.

“Viernes” (Friday) will be open to the public in Wu Gallery [Av. Saenz Peña 129, Barranco] from Wednesday 3th August to Friday 15th April 2016. The opening hours of the gallery are Monday through Friday from 10:30 am to 7:00 pm, and Saturday from 3:00 pm to 7:00 pm. For more information, please contact the email: info@wugaleria.com

About the Artist:Ignacio Alvaro (Lima, 1983) is a graduate of the school of plastic arts Corriente Alterna in Lima. He was selected for the 2013 Laboratory program “Recent Trajectories in Contemporary Theory and Practical Practice”, directed by curator Max Hernández-Calvo. In 2010 he received the First Prize of the Cerro Verde Young Artists Annual Contest in the Experimental category. Among his most recent exhibitions are: Laguna (Wu Gallery) and Charli (La Polaca).